Nedelea Gabriel, Mușat Mădălina Iuliana, Buican-Chirea Alina Cătălina, Ciorbagiu Mihai Călin, Cătălin Bogdan
Experimental Research Centre for Normal and Pathological Aging, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Petru Rares Street 2, 200349, Craiova, Dolj, Romania.
Department of Surgery, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Petru Rares Street 2, 200349, Craiova, Dolj, Romania.
Curr Health Sci J. 2024 Oct-Dec;50(5):546-555. doi: 10.12865/CHSJ.50.04.08. Epub 2024 Dec 31.
The correlation between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and depression has already been established, but the relation between the two is insufficiently studied. Various murine models have proven effective in evaluating the mechanisms involved in these pathologies.
In this study we aimed to assess how the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) protocol impacts the behavior of mice with liver damage induced by a methionine choline deficient (MCD) diet, and also to evaluate the changes in microglial morphology in the cortex of animals with depressive-like behavior and liver injury. Thus, the cortical region was analyzed using confocal microscopy.
Sucrose preference test and open field test revealed induced anhedonia and anxiety-like behavior, but short-term memory was not impaired, as assessed by novel object recognition test. Administration of the MCD diet led to an increase in total branch length and the number of terminal branches, revealing a hyperactivated microglia. The CUMS protocol in combination with MCD diet induced a reduced branching complexity, with fewer tertiary and terminal branches.
Our study highlights the importance of microglial morphology at the cortical level in coexisting depression and liver injury.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）与抑郁症之间的相关性已经确立，但二者之间的关系尚未得到充分研究。各种小鼠模型已被证明在评估这些病理过程中涉及的机制方面是有效的。
在本研究中，我们旨在评估慢性不可预测轻度应激（CUMS）方案如何影响由蛋氨酸胆碱缺乏（MCD）饮食诱导的肝损伤小鼠的行为，并评估具有抑郁样行为和肝损伤的动物皮质中小胶质细胞形态的变化。因此，使用共聚焦显微镜对皮质区域进行分析。
蔗糖偏好试验和旷场试验显示诱导了快感缺失和焦虑样行为，但通过新物体识别试验评估，短期记忆未受损。给予MCD饮食导致总分支长度和终末分支数量增加，显示小胶质细胞过度活化。CUMS方案与MCD饮食联合使用导致分支复杂性降低，三级和终末分支减少。
我们的研究强调了皮质水平的小胶质细胞形态在抑郁症和肝损伤共存中的重要性。
